Left Behind
by Richelieu
Summary: Takes place somewhere between 2x14 and 2x15. Alex gave Kara that shitty ultimatum that she was either a part of the family or she wasn't. Kara decides she isn't.
1. Revelations

It had all started back when the DEO was made aware of an illegal alien fight club. Kara had showed up to the warehouse to confront Roulette when she locked eyes with the brunette. Here was a woman who had captured aliens for the entertainment of the rich and affluent, and yet, on some level Kara couldn't help but want what the captured aliens had. While making them fight to the death was awful, they at least had a place where they could take out their aggression without causing massive damage to the city. If Kara so much as twitched the wrong way, she could destroy something that was probably expensive. The old broken down cars that she had stored at her warehouse weren't very useful to her to use for anger management and Kara could admit she was a little envious of the aliens here. After all, it wasn't like people at the DEO were lining up to spar with her. She needed someone that could and would fight back. Someone that could take one of her punches and live if she didn't hold back.

But she had a job to do and the DEO to answer to, so she fought and won that day. Roulette got away and Kara thought it was over, though Roulette's words from earlier played on repeat in her head, _"Thing you'll learn about me, I only play safe bets. And you, little girl, are as safe as they come."_ She thought little of it, until Slaver's Moon happened. She again met Roulette and again was taken back by how ambitious the woman was. Her eyes glinted as she told her captives just how profitable the intergalactic slave trade was. Mon-El had hovered over Kara's shoulder, making a pitiful attempt to back Kara up, and honestly by that point, she just wanted to deliver a strong elbow to his face to get him out of her space. Alex had saved the day and her sister once more, saying she would always be there for Kara.

And then Jeremiah came back. While at first, Kara had been ecstatic to have her adoptive father back, Mon-El and Winn had convinced her just how coincidental his return really was. She had expressed her shock that Winn was talking to her again and he quickly let her know that he was only talking to her out of a favor for Mon-El. So he was still mad, and she could deal with that. She could deal with Winn and James not talking to her. They just needed a little time and space. _She hated time and space. She was just trying to protect them. After all, they were only human and could be killed easily._ But when she tried to tell Alex about Jeremiah, all she got was a sharp rebuke. Alex didn't want to believe that it was weird for her dad to come back like he did. But she was Kara Danvers and she didn't give up easily. So she went to Alex's lab to try and talk to her again. But Alex didn't want to calmly discuss the situation, she didn't want to see that Jeremiah's timing was _weird_. Things had quickly gone from bad to worse, with Alex stating that Kara had obviously chosen her side. Alex given Kara an ultimatum: she was either part of the family or she wasn't. Kara deflated, Alex didn't mean that, she _couldn't_. Her sister wouldn't make her choose. Alex cut her off, putting emphasis on the fact that Jeremiah was her father, with a not so subtle implication that he was not Kara's. And when Kara had tried insisting that he was her's also, Alex's face morphed into something mean and vicious, spitting out, _"No, he isn't! Your father is dead!"_ Kara's face crumpled, her knees giving out slightly from under her. Alex had a shocked expression on her face. She couldn't believe she had really just said that. She reached out for Kara, but the blonde just shook her head, tears gathering quickly in her eyes. She stumbled away from the brunette, using her superspeed to get away before anything more could be said.

Alex decided to give Kara a few days to herself before she went over to her apartment to apologize for her harsh words. But then Cadmus had struck. Jeremiah turned out to be a spy for the shadowy organization. Luckily, they had caught him right as he was downloading the alien registry from the DEO mainframe, and foiled Cadmus's plans once again. Jeremiah had let them know that those plans had revolved around sending all aliens off planet, starting with National City and then expanding across the planet until finally all of the world was alien-free. The man who she had looked up to for so long was deluded. He had gone to work for the DEO to protect Kara, and yet he had seemed to forget all about her being an alien because he was "doing all of this for Alex." So, when the dust had settled and Jeremiah had been locked up, Alex went over to Kara's apartment. She got no response at the door, which was understandable since Kara was probably still mad at her, so she opened the door herself with her spare key. But the apartment was empty. Sure all of the furniture was there, but it looked as if no one had lived there for days at least. The couch was devoid of any and all blankets that had once rested there for Kara and Alex to snuggle under during their Sister Nights. A good amount of Kara's clothes were gone as well, leaving behind the many cardigans she had always worn to work at CatCo. She was about to call Winn to see if maybe she was using her Supergirl suit and he could track her when she saw it draped on a hanger at the back of Kara's closet. Maybe Kara was just out somewhere in the city? She grabbed a beer from the fridge when a note on the table caught her eye. She walked over to it, thinking it might be Kara letting her know where she was in the city, but as she read the document, tears formed at her eyes.

 _Alex-_

 _I've never been great at writing letters, since I've never had anyone to write to, but this is for you. I've decided to leave National City and I'm not coming back. No one needs me here, either as Supergirl or Kara Zor-El. The DEO can handle any threats without me. Winn and James don't need or want me. They haven't talked to me in weeks, the one exception being when Winn told me about Jeremiah, and even then, he did it as a favor to Mon-El. I'm not speaking with him either, though that was my choice. He was getting a little too pushy when it came to a relationship, wasn't leaving me alone when I asked for space. I could barely ever get a minute to myself, so I told him not to come around anymore and not to talk to me or he would receive a fist to his face. Thankfully, he backed off._

 _I guess now would be the time to tell you that I was fired from CatCo. Snapper kept giving me assignments that were mostly fluff pieces, except when he needed a quote from Lena. Anyways, I decided to let people know what was really going on when no one else was. So I became a citizen journalist and told the public about Cadmus, asked them to be safe. Apparently that was a violation of my contract with CatCo, so Snapper fired me. So I lost the one thing that made me feel normal, like a regular person. You know how important that job was to me, Alex. Or at least...you used to. Do you know how long it's been since we had a Sister Night? Me neither. Over the past few months, we've drifted apart._

 _Once, you would've come to me if you needed to vent or just wanted to talk, and I would've gone to you. But you have a whole new part to your life now. You have a wonderful girlfriend, and I understand if you want to spend time with her. But...the distance between myself and everyone else has only increased and I just can't stand on the side and watch everyone's lives move forward but my own...not anymore. You were right, you know? I'm not a Danvers. I never have been and I never will be a Danvers. My family is dead, my planet is dead, and everyone I once knew is dead. I am one of the last of my kind and I need to put more focus on that. So from this day on, Kara Danvers is dead and Kara Zor-El? Well, all I can say is that Kara Zor-El is a free agent._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Kara Zor-El_

 _Heir to the Noble House of El_


	2. Conference Room Talks

Winn was sitting at his desk going over some new data when he noticed Alex storming out of the elevator. He quickly got up and made his way over to her, "Hey, are you okay?" She brushed his hand off her shoulder with a scowl, "Do I look okay?" His reply was slow, "No...so what's wrong?" She stepped towards him and poked his chest harshly, "You want to know what's wrong?" He rubbed at the spot, "Ow. Yeah, of course. Did something happen with Maggie?" Her face increased in redness the longer he talked. She was about to say something more when a loud, "Agent Danvers!" boomed from the floor above them. They looked up to see J'onn leaning over the railing with a scowl on his face, "Conference room. Now." Winn looked between the two, "Both...both of us?" J'onn nodded, "Yes, Agent Schott. Both of you." Winn nodded and hung his head as he made his way up the stairs, Alex taking them two at a time. When they got into the room, J'onn quickly closed the door behind them with a sigh, "Agent Danvers, what seems to be the problem?" She took a piece of paper out of her pocket, unfolding it with as much care as was possible, "This is the problem J'onn. The information on this paper." He read it and the further he got into it, the more his face fell. He touched the comm on his earpiece, "Agent Vasquez, call Mr. Olsen and let him know his presence is required at the DEO immediately." Winn startled at the mention of James, "What's going on? What are you guys not telling me?" J'onn looked his way, not quite meeting his eyes as he replied, "You will know what's happening once Mr. Olsen gets to the DEO, Agent Schott."

He felt a small smile overtake his face as his friend walked into the room. However, it slipped when he remembered just why they were here, so he turned back to J'onn, "Now that James is here, can you please tell us what exactly is going on?" Alex stepped forward, "You know what happened with Jeremiah. Well, before we caught him, Kara and I had a fight. It was our biggest one ever. I...I accused her of not acting like a member of our family, and I spoke harshly. Well, I decided to give her a few days to let the both of us calm down and think about what we had said to each other. About what I said, really. So I went to her apartment to tell her just how sorry I was. But she wasn't there. Her clothes were gone and it looked like she hadn't been there for a few days. I looked around for her, but there was no indication of where she had gone besides this note which was laying on her kitchen island." She turned to J'onn and with a choked voice asked, "Could you please read her letter out loud? I...I can't. Not again."

He nodded solemnly and proceed to read its contents to both James and Winn. As he went on, Winn got less confused and thought more of how his relationship with Kara had changed. It had been a while since they stopped being as close as they once were. True, he had kept a secret from her. He had helped James become Guardian and had lied to her by omission. But, it wasn't that bad, was it? And then he remembered how they had fought. She just wanted to keep them safe. And Winn could understand where she was coming from, as he too had been lonely growing up. Ever since his father had tried to kill his boss, friends were quite hard to come by for the young boy. Added to his natural awkwardness, most friends he had would eventually leave him. Except Kara. Beautiful, wonderful Kara. She had been so full of light when he first met her before her interview with Cat Grant. And that shine had only grown when she became Supergirl. But then he had ruined it. He got feelings for her and when he eventually told her, she said they could only ever be friends. And he was resentful of that. That she could like James, who only saw Supergirl, but she would never she him like that, when he saw Kara Danvers. He had liked her, no loved her for herself before he even knew about her powers. And as time passed, they had become friends again.

She supported his decision to work for the DEO, even though she wouldn't be working with her best friend anymore. And then they fought, because he wanted something more from his life than just to be the weirdo tech guy. He wanted to be a hero, and he got a taste for the heroics of working with Guardian. Until he got mad at her because she was concerned for his safety. Since then, they had slowly drifted apart. He threw himself into his job, both at the DEO and with Guardian. He went on a few dates with a wonderful blonde named Lyra. But he slowly stopped talking to her, answering sentences with short sharp words. In fact, the last time he had spoken to her, he told her he was only talking to her because Mon-El asked it of him as a favor. He spared no words to ask her how she was, how she was doing at CatCo, how her relationship with Mon-El was going. And hearing J'onn speak of how Kara had shut down Mon-El filled him with anger. Not directed towards Kara, but at Mon-El. How could any man treat her like that? Make that ball of pure sunshine feel bad for not being in a relationship with him? She didn't deserve to feel guilty for not liking him in that way. And when she told him "No" the first time, Mon-El should have respected that, and backed off. But he didn't and so Kara had to use force.

How could he have been such a bad friend that she didn't even feel like she could text or call him? He should've known that she was fired. Regardless of fights, he would have been there for her if she had asked. He would've shown up at her door with a cheesy action movie, potstickers, and ice cream. Or at least...he liked to think he would have. But he had acted like the worst friend ever, and now she was gone. It wasn't only his fault, but he had to own up to the fact that he hadn't been there for his best friend in the whole world, for the only person who cared where he spent his Thanksgivings. Something was off though, "James...did you know that she had been fired?" His friend rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh yeah actually. Her termination paper came across my desk since it needed my signature." Alex startled, "You fired her?" James shrugged nonchalantly, "I had to. HR had already done the paperwork and Snapper was adamant that she be let go for breach of contract. So yeah." Winn stood from his seat, "Did you at least give her the paperwork yourself?" He shook his head, "No, of course not. It's not the CEO's job to hand deliver termination packages. I had Miss Tessmacher do it." Winn paced back and forth, "So had your personal assistant hand her a paper with your signature on it telling her that she was fired. And then you didn't think to tell me or Alex?"

"Well, yeah. I didn't want to see her, Winn. Everything has been weird between us since she found out that I'm Guardian. She didn't want to talk to me or support my decision on it, so I stopped talking to her. She'll come back, I know she will. After all, she's Supergirl and she needs National City just as much as National City needs her." He finished with a nod and J'onn had to restrain Alex to keep her from lunging at him. "You complete and utter _moron_! She needed us! We weren't there for her when we should've been and now she's gone and from the looks of the note, she isn't coming back. At least, not voluntarily. Not until she wants to. You know how much she needed her job to feel normal, and you had no second thoughts when you signed those termination papers." James shrugged again, "Look Alex, obviously she didn't need the job as much as you think she did. She was constantly coming into work late, writing subpar stories that honestly should've been written better considering she has a journalism degree, and leaving the office during work hours to go meet up with Lena Luthor," he spat out the name with disgust, a sneer taking over his features. Sneer in place, he dumbly continued, "Maybe now that Kara is gone, Guardian can finally get some recognition in this city for being the hero instead of Supergirl."

This time, J'onn did nothing to hold Alex back and Winn watched as she launched herself at him with a fierce cry. She quickly got the upper hand, her years of training overtaking the few months of experience that James had. By the time Winn and J'onn managed to pull her off of him, he was missing a tooth or two and had two very nasty looking black eyes. Alex was huffing and puffing, "I'm going to find Kara, and I'm going to bring her back. And when I do, you _stay away from her!_ She doesn't need toxic people like you in her life! You can move back to Metropolis and go see how they like Guardian. Oh wait, they don't need or want you because they have Superman. You better hope that she isn't hurt or in trouble, because if she is...it's going to be your head of a platter." She stormed out of the room, pulling out her cell phone along the way, presumably to tell Maggie what happened. Winn looked over at J'onn, "I'm going to help look for her, please don't ask me otherwise." J'onn nodded, and Winn looked over at his former friend, shaking his head in disgust before heading back over to his desk to compile data to make a search algorithm.


	3. Scratching the Surface

The room was dark except for the spotlights centered on the elevated ring in the middle and the crowd cheered as the fighters in the ring exchanged punches back and forth. Roulette watched with little interest until one of the competitors finally gained an upper hand and knocked out her opponent. A pair of EMTs dragged out the woman who was sprawled unconscious on the floor as the man on the microphone announced the next competitors.

Two brawlers stepped into the ring but it was only one that caught the attention of Roulette. She had seen her twice before and was not likely to ever forget the blonde's face, no matter what identity the alien came up with. She had kept tabs on the girl, staying one step ahead of the DEO and Supergirl at all costs. She knew the moment that Supergirl disappeared from National City, but she never would've imagined that the blonde would show up in _her_ city of all places. Never imagined she would end up in underground fight clubs, fighting _humans_.

 _How could she fight them and not cause too much damage, not kill the humans with one punch?_ She got the answer when she saw the green studded earings that the blonde was wearing. _So she's draining her powers enough that she can feel the rush of adrenaline that comes with a hard punch to the face. She needs the pain to ground her._ She stayed silent until the match was over and the blonde lay passed out on the floor. Without her powers, she wasn't much of a force to be reckoned with. She instructed her lackeys to go retrieve the girl and bring her along when they left the club.

Kara woke up in a dark room, jerking to her feet and ready to fight. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she took in her unfamiliar surroundings. Her attention was drawn to one of the corners of the room as a deep chuckle filled the air. "Supergirl, how nice to see you again, though the circumstances of this meeting are a bit… unexpected. What reasons could you possibly have to be _so_ far from home? Surely, you are aware that this is _my_ city?" As much as Kara wanted to relax at hearing a familiar voice, this was still Roulette, so she couldn't let her guard down, not even for a moment.

"My reasons are my own, Ms. Sinclair. Let's just say that I needed to get away for a while." Roulette let out a scoff, "You've been gone from National City for months. Get away for a while might be a bit of an understatement, Ms. Danvers." She stepped into the light as she said this and watched as Kara's face morphed into something quite close to despair and resentment, the girl folding in on herself. Kara stumbled and fell to the floor, heaving dry sobs with closed eyes. Roulette knelt next to the blonde and placed a hand on a strong shoulder. She watched as Kara's eyelids shut even tighter in an effort to stop the intense blue light from blazing out like it so clearly wanted to. She swept some blonde locks behind the other woman's ear, "Are you not a Danvers?" The blonde shook her head minutely, "Zor-El. That is my last name."

Roulette could see that Kara was at a disadvantage. _This would be an ideal time to turn this situation in my favor._ "They left you, didn't they? The ones you called " _family_." Kara's breathing only became more ragged as she fought not to hyperventilate. "They lied to you. Left you to rot." She whispered in Kara's ear as she placed the blonde's head in the crook of her neck. "But _I_ see you. _I_ see all the anger and anguish that you carry around on your shoulders like Atlas himself. Even the most powerful person on the planet needs to be weak at some point. But they wouldn't let you be weak, would they? You had to be strong. Strong for the city, strong for your family. You couldn't ever let any weakness show. If you told your sister or friends about a rough day at work, they would tell you to grow up and stop complaining. They weren't there for you when you needed them most. But _I_ am. _I_ will stand by your side and give you support, whether you are in a lowest of places or the highest. With me, you would not have to worry about being strong all the time, and yet you would be able to release all of those years of pent up frustration, all of that anger about being the last of your kind, and not have to worry about breaking anything. You can show the world what it is missing and what it took for granted. All you have to do is _stand at my side_."

Kara finally calmed down enough to gasp out, "I have had enough people in this world betray my trust. I can't give it away again so easily. Let me leave without trouble and I promise to stay out of your hair while I'm in Las Vegas. I won't stop your "activities" or anything, but for now, I just want to be left alone."

Roulette nodded and led Kara to a balcony, "At some point, you are going to need me, Kara Zor-El. And when you do, you will know where to find me. I'll be waiting when you are ready." The younger woman wiped her tears and nodded, saying, "I'll keep that in mind," before taking off.

 _Same time, in National City:_

An alert pinged on the DEO monitors, grabbing Winn's attention. "Hey Alex? I think we might have something over here." She came rushing over to where he was seated. "What is it? Have you found her?" He typed away at his keyboard, bringing up reports, "No, but I think I may have found something. I'm seeing signs of green-K radiation in cities all across the United States. It isn't leaving much of a trace, so it can't be very large amounts of the stuff. The big cities it's been found in are Gotham, Opal City, Central City, Metropolis, Star City, Las Vegas, and Coast City. Kara could very easily be in any one of those cities, Alex."

Alex clapped her hand on the man's shoulder, "Well in that case, we had better start searching those cities as soon as possible, shouldn't we? I'm going to put a search team together and start with Coast City. Maybe Green Lantern can help us."


	4. Restless Nights

Kara looked out over the streets of the Sin City from atop the observation deck of the Stratosphere Tower. It had closed hours ago and that was the very reason she had chosen it for a thinking spot. It had a closing time of ten p.m., unlike the rest of the city, which was always awake and bustling with noisy tourists. She mulled over the events that had occurred a week ago in her head and let out a heavy sigh. As much as she loathed to admit it, Roulette had been right. She had been right about everything she said, and with each statement, a strange mixture of sadness and comfort washed over Kara. Her family had abandoned her, slowly withdrawing their support one by one until none remained. Well...almost no one.

Lena had stuck around, had even been a pillar of support for the blonde. Lena, her best friend. It was ironic almost, the fact that everyone had been _so damn sure_ that the youngest Luthor would live up to her family name and betray Kara, but when the time came, she was the only one who was there and listened. Kara had spent weeks, months even, deliberating whether or not she should tell Lena about where she came from and who she really was. But the second she opened her mouth and voiced, "I'm…" Lena had cut in with a laugh and said she had always known and that it didn't and wouldn't affect their friendship.

Kara had been so overjoyed that she swept Lena into a hug and floated a few inches off the ground. Unfortunately though, Lena couldn't support Kara all on her own, so when the blonde mentioned the possibility of leaving town to start over, the youngest Luthor had reluctantly agreed that it might be best for Kara. Of course, Lena had offered for Kara to use one of her many residences, but Kara refused. One of the first people that the DEO would look was at Lena, and Kara couldn't do anything that would make it seem like her friend had kidnapped her. So Kara had refused almost all help from the brunette, with the exception of an encrypted cell phone that was made of some kind of durable material so that Kara couldn't break it on accident. All Kara had to do in return was call or text Lena every couple of days to let her know she was safe.

So, she had called earlier and they had talked for quite some time, just catching up. Kara was up-front about her encounter with Roulette, and Lena told her that she didn't have to worry about her safety around Veronica. If she had known her identity and done nothing, then she was probably just as curious about Kara as Kara was about her. So yeah, her friend had told her to be cautious but she also said nothing bad would probably happen to her if she pursued Roulette. So here Kara was, sitting all by herself atop a tower, and weighing the pros and cons of seeing Roulette again. If Kara saw her again, she may finally be able to understand her attraction to the older woman and figure out what she was going to do next.

If she didn't…well she could still try and figure it out, but it may take quite a while longer. Besides, ever since Kara's friends and family (with the exception of Lena, of course) had abandoned her, she had no form of support. There was no one to go to for comfort, no one to listen to her when the weight of the world became too much and she sagged under the unbearable weight of it all. The problem wasn't loneliness alone though. That was just one of many problems. She had dealt with depression ever since her planet was destroyed, and yet she had been able to deal with it by surrounding herself with people. But it had gotten worse, and now she couldn't sleep or concentrate. She was no longer hungry and had lost any motivation she may have once had. The sun pretty much kept her at the peak of physical health, but mentally and emotionally, she was suffering.

She hopped off the ledge where she sat and pushed herself higher into the sky. She hovered there, just surveying the city and listening to sirens speed by. Mind made up, she headed towards a certain heartbeat, slowing down the closer she got. The heartbeat in question thumped slowly as its owner slept on, unaware of the presence that floated quietly onto their balcony. Kara sat in one of the corners, drawing her knees to her chest and concentrated on the slow relaxed thumping, letting it lull her into one of her first peaceful sleeps in a while.

* * *

 _Meanwhile in Coast City:_

Alex had been in Coast City for a few days now with her search team, but so far there had been no sign of Green Lantern. _Maybe he was off on a mission with the Justice League?_ Regardless, Alex was just about to give up hope of seeing Hal when a streak of green flashed across the sky. Alex flicked her flashlight on and off a few times to grab his attention. He landed slowly, his face suddenly wary, "How can I help the DEO?"

Alex took a few steps forward, "Do you know Supergirl?"

A smirk came over the man's face and his posture relaxed, "Supe's cousin? Not as well as I'd like to, if you know what I mean. She is most definitely a fine piece of ass." He paused, a look of confusion taking over his face, "Wait, aren't you Alex Danvers, her foster sister?"

She nodded, "She's gone missing. We were wondering if maybe you had seen her recently."

His back stiffened, "No, I haven't unfortunately. You're her sister, so shouldn't you be keeping track of her?"

Folding her arms across her chest defensively, Alex replied, "She left all of a sudden. She only left a note saying she was leaving for a while."

Hal relaxed again, his stance widening, "Sounds like she doesn't want to be found then. Maybe you should leave her alone. Why is the DEO looking for her?"

She frowned, "She's the hero of National City. The people need her there. And her friends and family are worried about her well-being." She paused to let out a light sigh, "We didn't treat her too well. I was spending too much time with my girlfriend, her friends left her and she was fired from her job. Look, I just want my sister back, alright?"

A smug look crossed Hal's face, "Girlfriend, huh? Are you sure you don't want her back for another reason? You seem a little too invested to simply be worried about her on a familial level."

Alex took a step back, her eyes narrowing, "What are you implying, _Lantern_?" She hissed out his title.

He shrugged, "Look all I'm saying is that maybe since she isn't your actual blood sister that maybe you just want in her pants. I mean, who _doesn't_ want in the pants of that first little minx. I'm bet she's probably a little spitfire in bed."

She lunged at Hal, her hand backhanding him across the face, "You perverted _dick_. She's my _sister_. You know what? The DEO doesn't want or need your help in locating her."

A green glow engulfed him as he floated a few feet in the air and rubbed at his jaw, "That's fine. Maybe I'll find her myself. Help her keep her distance from your shady organization. Oh and Agent Danvers? Get the hell out of my city. The DEO isn't welcome in Coast City."


	5. Dawn

Kara slept on the same balcony night after night, coming only when the resident was asleep and making sure to leave before they woke up. She had tried to stay away, really she did, but something just kept pulling her back to the apartment. She knew her behavior was unacceptable, that it could be seen as stalkerish, but she just couldn't care anymore.

It was the smell of bacon sizzling that woke Kara up. She groggily squinted her eyes at the sun that was just beginning to peak over the horizon. It took her a moment to realize she was still on the balcony, and that she had majorly overslept. She made a small jolt forward before realizing that too much movement might alert the person inside to her presence. She turned to face the balcony, and tried to stealthily climb over the wall when the sound of the glass door opening froze her in her place.

"Don't leave on my account." The blonde stayed still and the brunette sighed. "Get off of the balcony wall, Ms. Zor-El." When no movement was forthcoming, the brunette narrowed her eyes and put some steel into her tone, "Down! Now, Kara." Suddenly there was a gust of wind, and Kara was no longer in view. The brunette stood there for a second more before turning back towards the door. She was stopped by the sight of the Kryptonian standing about three feet from her. She took her time looking over the blonde, taking note of the blown eyes and heaving chest. She reached out towards the Kryptonian's face, mindlessly tucked some golden locks behind her ear, watching as eyes shuddered close in what seemed to be relief. She pulled her hand back and watched in slight amusement as the other woman unconsciously seemed to chase the hand.

"Come along, Kara. There's food for you on the dining table. And before you ask, yes, there is more than enough for even you." She strolled into kitchen without so much as a backwards glance, sitting down at the dining table and cutting into her food, seemingly paying no attention to the Kryptonian standing in the doorway. It wasn't until the chair across from her was pulled out and a wary blonde sat down that she looked up. The other woman was frantically piling food on her plate as if worried that if she didn't grab enough, it might all disappear. The brunette leisurely sat back in her chair and slowly brought the hot mug of tea up to her mouth for a small sip.

She waited until Kara had finished most of the food on her plate before she spoke again, "So, Ms. Zor-El, to business." She watched as the blonde slowly swallowed her eggs. "I would like to ask something of you."

"What can I do?" The blonde asked in a quiet voice, avoiding looking directly at the other woman.

"Don't worry _too_ much, Ms. Zor-El. I would like to ask that you come with me. You need help, and I can give it to you. You have far too much wasted potential, and you can be so much better. Let me help you." She watched confusion contort the Kryptonian's face as she spoke, and kept silent as the blonde processed the request.

"Where would we be going?" The brunette had expected more questions from the blonde, maybe even accusations, but apparently the blonde wanted blunt questions and blunt replies.

"Far away. Forgive me, but I won't be giving you the location as a precaution. There is no pressure for you to join the so-called "bad guys", of course. I offer you a place to train away from the ridiculous expectations of the real world. If you ever want to talk to somebody, whether it is myself or a professional, feel free. I can offer you anything you could possibly want or need, and all I ask is that you accompany me." She finished when she saw a dark look quickly flash across the Kryptonian's face.

"Can you offer me what I've lost? My planet, my family?" Kara spoke lowly, staring at her abandoned eggs, but the brunette could tell that she wasn't really seeing what was in front of her.

The other woman hesitated before speaking, "I can't offer you Krypton. I don't think anyone can. But I can offer you family, and they are quite interested in seeing you, Kara Zor-El."

The blonde's head snapped up and eagerness filled her voice, "Take me to them, Miss Sinclair."


	6. Family

Kara looked out of the window as the plane descended. She honestly had no idea where they were, only that they were no longer in the United States and that wherever they were about to land was quite cold, as the m. She was glad they were about to land though since she had been cooped up in the plane for quite some time. Her attention was brought quickly back to the present when a hand reached across her and closed the visor covering the window. She gaze trailed up the arm until it reached the face of a frowning Roulette.

"Wait until we land. I have a few things to show you before you can go exploring." Kara nodded in silent agreement, and lurched forward slightly when the plane's wheels hit the tarmac. They waited in silence for a few more minutes until the plane had finished taxi-ing. Once the plane finally halted and the cabin door lowered, Kara was led out of the jet and into a tunnel leading into the earth that lit up with dim overhead lights as they passed.

"Where… are we?" Even though Kara spoke quietly, her voice still bounced off of the metal walls surrounding them. She used her x-ray vision to no avail, and realized that the walls must be ingrained with just the slightest covering of lead to prevent any Kryptonian from seeing what was held inside. She turned to face the taller woman, hopeful for a reply, but quickly was disappointed by the silent smirk that took over the brunette's face.

Eventually, they approached a part of the hallway that branch off into several different directions. Their pace was slowed to a halt by the red-clad woman, who pointed to the hallway to the left, "Down there you will find the entrance to the training facilities and miscellaneous other rooms. To the right are the living quarters. I will be showing you to your room later after some things have been dealt with." Her tone implied that she expected no reply from the hero. She placed her hand on the small of Kara's back to urge her forward. Roulette looked into a small biometric eye scanner and a low pneumatic hiss emitted from the doors as they slowly pulled apart. Voices suddenly filtered into Kara's awareness as soft light spilled through the ever-growing space between the doors.

"Sir, if you would just wait a little longer, I am sure that Miss Sinclair will have positive news to report when she arrives."

"You keep telling me to wait, and I have, Mister Lord. But my patience has finally run thin. You keep reassuring me that Roulette knows what she is doing, but I see no progress made by her. If she can't find my daughter, then I will."

Kara's chest heaved as it fought for oxygen and her eyes pricked uncomfortably as tears that had been held back for so long finally spilled over.

She stepped from the shadowy doorway into the red hued light of the large room, "Daddy? What...how are you here?" Shaking her head, she didn't wait for a reply before turning back to Roulette. Her hair whipped behind her as she turned and a snarl took over her face. Teeth bared, she gritted out, "What kind of cruel trick is this? There is no way that my father is here. He is in a prison in a pocket dimension, unjustly imprisoned for trying to save our people! What did you even think was going to happen? That you would give the Girl of Steel some hope that her family remained and then take it all away? That you would laugh at the poor, miserable alien girl? That this would break me? If so, you have another thing coming!"

Veronica hesitated upon seeing the raw emotion on the younger woman's face, and was about to go to her, but she was quickly pushed aside by the large intimidating man that Kara called father. She retreated to stand next to Maxwell Lord, her business partner. Together they watched in silence as the two were reunited.

"Kara, my darling daughter, believe me when I say that I feared we would never be reunited, but here we are." Kara looked into her father's pale blue eyes as she slowly reached out to brush her fingers against his face, "But, how? How are you here?"

"The machine that kept us imprisoned in the Phantom Zone was destroyed in Krypton's implosion. But it seems like Jor-el and the Council took every precaution to keep us locked up. They set our arrival point to the Well of Stars, where time does not pass. Your mother's cryostasis chamber was damaged and she escaped to free the rest of us."

He paused to take a breath, "Together, we took down our captors and commandeered the ship. We ensured that a tracker would be placed on your escape pod should it be needed. It seems our faith in Zor-el was well placed as he followed orders and did everything he could to protect you. He will be honored appropriately. We then followed the tracker here to Earth, but Fort Rozz landed in the ocean and sank beneath the waves."

Kara tilted her head to the side, why didn't you use force to break out? You must've had enough exposure to the sun to be strong enough for it."

Her father nodded, "We would've had it been made of anything besides Nth metal. It took five months before we were discovered by Mister Lord. He rescued us and used his business connections to start the search for you, since by then you had already left National City. You know the rest from there, daughter."

Kara embraced him and murmured, "I'm glad you're here, Dad. I truly thought I would never see you again. I missed you so much."

The low sound of the doors opening again alerted Kara to the arrival of two newcomers.

"I see we have visitors, dearest. Tell me, is it more scientists come to inspect us? Or have some new recruits arrived?" Zod stood to his full height and stepped to the side, revealing Kara to the newcomers.

"Kara…"


End file.
